by Jeremy A. Brown

What could be more precious than gold?! 2020 has been the year that has helped us to realize just how valuable this thing is. We need it more than ever, and no amount of money or material things can take its place. You know what I'm talking about, PEACE OF MIND! Whether you're a rich person or a poor person, nothing else will matter if you don't have peace of mind. 2020 was the year that we saw the things that brought us peace of mind be challenged or completely FAIL US; many of us have faith that our governments will protect us, our nations have a robust economy, our nation's healthcare system can take care of us, and so on. Yet all these entities suffered a rude awakening, and we still have not fully recovered. We do not know if things will get worse. What if I told you God told us how we could have real peace of mind, something our medicines cannot do since they just numb us mentally to the suffering we are going through.

In Psalm 119:165 NKJV, God says those who LOVE His laws will have PEACE, and nothing Satan or this world can throw at us will cause us to stumble. Loving God's laws will give us peace of mind because, through his word, God reveals His plan for humanity. (Matthew 6:31-33 NKJV) God knows that evil runs amok in this world. There are social injustices, Muslim concentration camps in some nations, Christians murdered, child/sex trafficking, mass shootings, wildfires, and the poor becoming poorer while the rich get richer, to name a few. These surround us no matter what government we fall under, but God states we need to make sure we stay away from this evil. (Proverbs 4:14-27 NKJV) Those who love God's word understand II Chronicles 20:15 NKJV. God says, do not be afraid when the masses are against you. This battle is not ours, but God's. The things that must come to pass will happen to fulfill God's will, not ours. It will not make sense to us, but it is all in God's plan. (Revelation 21:4 NKJV) (I Thessalonians 4:13 NKJV) This doesn't mean we should not do our part to minister and spread God's word to the world. We must not lose our peace of mind when things do not go the way we hoped they would. It is God's battle, and we must remember we serve a MIGHTY God. He will assuredly win this battle. (Revelation 20:1-3 NKJV) We may suffer during these troublesome times, and we should not be ashamed of expressing our love for God and His word. (I Peter 4:16 NKJV)

Yes, at times, we may become nervous and even sad at the suffering we will witness or even experience, but we must not lose our PEACE OF MIND since our hope is not in man's failed world. This physical life will bring pain because we have gone against God's laws, but we must not fret because time and time again, man's world has let us down (Isaiah 2:22, ESV). As followers of Jesus Christ, our hope is in heavenly things.

GOD WILL ALWAYS BE THERE FOR US! (Deuteronomy 31:6 NKJV)